Abstract

Herbal medicines are products which contain exclusively plant material and / or vegetable drug preparations as active ingredients.
<br>In the past there has been a move away from plant-based medicine, but a move back to phytotherapy is now evident from statistics on patient spending.
<br>The herbal remedies used in South Africa include St John's wort, garlic, kava, ginkgo, saw palmetto, licorice root, valerian, milk thistle and evening primrose.
<br>Problems with herbal medicines include:
<br>lack of sufficient research
<br>quality issues: misidentification, adulteration, substitution and contamination
<br>hypersensitivity reactions
<br>lack of safety studies in pregnancy and lactation.
<br>Misconceptions about herbal remedies:
<br>herbals don't work
<br>misunderstanding of how one medicine can cure many conditions
<br>herbs are dangerous.
<br>Practitioners and pharmacists should develop guidelines for advising patients about the use of herbal remedies.
<br>Patients must be actively questioned and encouraged to inform practitioners of all herbal remedies they are taking, particularly prior to surgery, or to prescription of other medication.
<br>Training of health care professionals, education of patients, improvement of quality assurance, guidelines for claims made for the medications, and reporting of ADRs are all urgently needed.